On amendment No. 1 to amendment No. 3, I am disappointed the Minister is not accepting even the amendments to the amendment, as opposed to the general view from this side of the House that she might delay. If this proposal had been fleshed out and ready to go, it would have been included in the published Bill from the start. It arrived after the Bill had been published and after the Second Stage debate. There was no proper pre-legislative scrutiny or opportunity to even have a Second Stage debate about it or extern…

I move amendment No. 1 to amendment No. 3: After section 3(a), to insert the following: “(b) in section 19 (1) (b), by the deletion of “, by any overt act,” and the substitution of “, by any overt and specified act,”,”.

I move amendment No. 3 to amendment No. 3: After subsection (1O) proposed to be inserted by section 3(b), to insert the following: “(1OA) In a case to which subsection (1)(b) applies, nothing in subsection (1O) relieves the Minister or the Committee of Inquiry, as the case may be, of the obligation to specify the overt act referred to in that paragraph.”.

I move amendment No. 4 to amendment No. 3: After subsection (1P) proposed to be inserted by section 3(b), to insert the following: “(1Q) In a case to which subsection (1) (b) applies, the Minister shall not decide to revoke a certificate of naturalisation, and the Committee of Inquiry shall not affirm such a decision unless the Minister or the Committee of Inquiry, as the case may be, is satisfied that the overt act concerned is so serious in nature that it shows that the obligations of citizenship have intentional…

I welcome the improvement in safeguards to comply with the judgments of the court. What are the criteria and what is the process in determining what is a safe country? Is it possible for the process itself to become more transparent? Does the Minister see a role for the Oireachtas in discussing such matters with her, rather than simply the Department and the Minister making a determination on what constitutes a safe third country?

It is important for us to know, if there will be a fast-track process for certain nationalities, how people get on that list, what countries are on the list and how it is done. I am unclear about it. Does the Minister see a role for the Oireachtas, by way of the Committee on Justice or some other way, discussing the countries with her before she expands the list? Does she intend to add to the current list? Is the reduction in the criteria for years of service for practising solicitors to serve in the tribunal becau…

I move amendment No. 13: In page 7, line 24, to delete “subsections (2A) and (2B)” and substitute “subsections (2A) to (2D)” It is a procedural part of our bundle of amendments to section 4, which sets out amendments to the Judicial Council Act 2019. Last April's Supreme Court decision in the Delaney case upheld, as discussed on Second Stage, the validity of personal injuries guidelines issued by the Judicial Council, but only because the guidelines had been endorsed by subsequent legislation passed by the Oireacht…

I thank the Minister for her reply. I ask that she come back again on the point I made about the expression by members of the Supreme Court about the essence of the Judiciary being an inappropriate body constitutionally to have devolved powers to make law. Has that been reflected on or checked? What assurances can the Minister give the House on that not being a factor that, if that issue itself were tested, would undermine the functioning of the Judicial Council by way of making secondary legislation? Second, as re…

In light of the Minister's assurances, I will withdraw the amendment.

There is no gap between Committee Stage and Report Stage.

There is no time to table Report Stage amendments.

I commend Sinn Féin on bringing this really important issue before us for debate again. Like others, I acknowledge the presence in the Gallery of the O'Farrell family, whose thirst for justice is boundless and whose determination makes it incumbent on all of us to respond in kind. The justice system of any nation is the bedrock on which citizens rely for their basic liberty and well-being. A well-functioning justice system must give every person in the State a sense of safety and confidence that wrongdoing will be …

This House and this country is deeply indebted to those brave victims of gender-based crime who have waived their right to anonymity to tell their own deeply personal stories. I mean women like Natasha O'Brien, who is present here and whom I had the privilege of meeting this morning, and Bláthnaid Raleigh, who, again, bravely told her story on national radio. They have given a voice to countless others who like them are victims of unspeakable violence but whose voice has not been heard. Their testimony cannot be a …

I am glad of the opportunity to speak on two very important issues. I agree, and I think the Tánaiste will agree, that this is a totally inadequate way of dealing with them. I have five minutes to deal with these matters. The Tánaiste did not have the time to present. It gives the wrong impression for those who want to create the wrong impression outside this House. I hope that next time these issues are addressed we will have adequate time. I want to deal first with the annual report on service by the Defence Forc…

I will share my time with Deputy Nash. This miscellaneous provisions Bill touches briefly on a broad range of unrelated issues that have only one thing in common, namely, they are all under the purview of the Department of Justice. The Bill does not deal in any detailed or systematic way with any of these important issues. There is nothing wrong, in principle, with that approach where the resources of the Department and the Oireachtas demand it, but it is a piecemeal approach. I know from experience that things are…

I welcome again the opportunity to address the House and especially the Government on the upcoming European Council meeting. The Minister of State set out a variety of issues that will be on the agenda but, as practising politicians, we all know the main agenda item will be the nailing down of the horse-trading deals on the main positions to be allocated for the next mandate. It seems that the three principal positions are already determined, with an expectation that the Heads of Government will renominate Ursula v…

Correct.

It was not reached.

What about the Dáil?

I am very glad to have the opportunity to speak on this truly important issue. I will make a few general points before I deal with the specifics in the proposal before the House. This is a fundamentally important set of proposals that seeks - I think in an honest way - to address an issue which is of deep concern to the majority of the Irish people. It merits, therefore, the kind of scrutiny and debate that these measures were given in the European Parliament itself with a focus here in our discussions on how each …